Hand brake



Sept. 30.1924.

A. P. WITHALL HAND BRAKE Filed Oct. ,'20,y 1923 Patented Sept. 30, 1924.

UNITED STATES 1,510,369" PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT P. WITHALL, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, .ASSIGNO'R, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 W. H. MINER, INC., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

HAND BRAKE.

Application filed October 20, 1923. Serial No. 889,864.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT P. WITHALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State V of Il inois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Hand Brakes, of which the followin is a full, clear, concise` and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in hand brakes.

In the operation of railway cars` especially those of the mail and baggage type, it is 164 essential that the hand brakes be so arranged that the same may be operated with equal facility`- either inside or outside of the car, it being the ractice to design the operating mechanism En* application to the end walls of the car, a depending hand operated lever being located on the interior of the car in the type of hand brake most commonly used. In mail and baggage cars, the arrangement oi the fixtures especially the steam heating coils which are located along the end walls, is such that access to the hand grip end of the operating lever is made extremely dilicult, and the operator is forced to assume an awkward position in which it is practically impossible to eiliciently operate the brakes.

Further diliculty is encountered in that insufficient clearance is provided between the hand grip of the lever and the heating coils, thereby exposing the operator to burns or 36 other injuries due to accidental contact with the heated coils.

- The principal object of this invention is to overcome the diiiculties pointed out by providing easily accessible operating means auxiliary to the usual lever of the type of brakes referred to.

More specifically, the object of this invention is to provide an auxiliary operating lever adapted for attachment to the usual hand brakes employed for railway cars of the mail, baggage or similar types, the operating arm of the auxiliary lever being so disposed as to be freely accessible and within easy reach of the operator. f

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure l is a front elevational view of the inner end of a brake mechanism adapted to be operated either from the inside or the outside of the car, illustrating my improvements in connection therewith. Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the structure shown in Figure 1, showing the brakes applied to the end wall of acar, the end wall being shown partly broken Vawa and in vertical section, and the location o the usual steam heatin coils being shown in dotted lines. And igure 3 is a horizontal, sectional view, on a reduced scale, of a portion of the end of a car illustrating the relative location of the brake mechanism and the usual steam coils.

In said drawing, the end wall of the mail or baggage car is indicated by 10 and one of the side walls by 11. The end wall 10 is shown as provided with a door opening 12. Mounted at the corner of the car adjacent the end and side walls are the usual steam coils 13-13. A hand brake mechanism A of well known construction is mounted on the end Wall 10 of the car, the same being of that type which is adapted for Operation from either the inside or outside of the car. The brake mechanism A includes an outer housing 14 and an inner housing 15, within; which are mounted the usual chainV winding drum, ratchet operating mechanism Vand means for locking the drum against rotation, not shown, the ratchet mechanism being operated by outer and inner levers 16 and 17 and the locking means being operated by outer and inner levers 18 and 19. the levers 18 and 19 being connected to simultaneously operate the locking means. The drum A is provided with the usual opening through which the brake chain 20 is led to the winding drum A'bolt`21 extending centrally through the housings 14 and 15 and through the end wall 10 serves to rotatably support the winding drum in a well known manner and the levers 16 and 17 are adapted to'swing about the axis of the bolt. Through oscillation of either of the levers 16 or 17 the ratchet mechanism within the respective housings is operated, in a well known manner, to intermittently rotate the drum to tighten the'brakes, the lever 17 Y coacting with a ratchet Wheel 22 shown in dotted lines in Figure 1, the former Vbeingprovided with the usual tooth 23 engaging the teeth of the ratchet wheel and being pivoted to a link 24 oscillatable about the axis of the ratchet wheel. In this connection, reference may be had to Patent 1,240,324 granted to Wm. Dwyer, September 18, 1917, for a more delocked to the tailed disclosureof the type o brakeinnconnectionvith iwhich my inventin vis adapted to be used.

As Qlearl shown in Figure 2, the hand rip end 2 of the lever .1i is offsetY away rom the end Wall of the car and ordinal-il".

ample clearance Would be provided or Voperating the same were it not for the space occupied by the steam coils 13 adjacent the end Wall of the car, making the manipulationo the lever extremely diilicult, as hereA inheore pointed out.

In carrying out my invention, I provide an auxiliary lever B having a hub :portion 26 and a pair of oppositely extending radial arms 27'and 28, the arm 27 being'lcnger than the arm 28 and disposed at an angle thereto.: Y

A collar 29 having a cylindrical bearing portion 30 and an annular flange 31 is mounted on the bolt 20, exteriorly of the housing 15, having its inner end abutting the outer wall of the housing and being held in position on the bolt by a nut 32 boltby a cotter pin 33. The hub of the lever is provided with a bearing opening 34 adapted to receive the cylindrical portion 30 ofthe collar, the lever being thus mounted 'for oscillating movement about the axis of the bolt. The flange 31 ofthe collar abuts the inner face of the hub 26 of the lever, thus retaining the lever in operative position on the bearing portion :30; At the free end the arm 28 is provided withV an integral flaring sleeve 35 open at the opposite ends and ladapted to receiveV the handigrip 25 of thelever 17, the lower end of the arm 28 being inwardly offset as shown in Figure 2 lso that the sleeve 35 will probably register with the grip 25 when the lever B is applied to the mechanism.

In applying the lever B, the hub is slipped over the outer end of the bolt 21 with the 28 in a depending position. The sleeve 35 is then slip ed over the hand grip 25, the collar 29 p aced in posit-ion on the bolt 21 and the bearing-portionzthereojt inserted Within the bearing opening of the lever B. The collar is then secured in Vposition by the nut 32. In this connection, it :is-'pointed out that the hand grip l25 of the lever 17 hasj play in Vthe sleeve 35 dueto the flare of the latter-,thereby permitting the necessary relative angular movement `of the lever 17 and the lever B to permit thetooth of the former to befsvvung into `engagement with the ratchet wheel.

Y:To operate-the brakes, the Yoperator engges thefhand 'grip-"at the upper Efree end of Kthe lever-arm 27 and oscillates the same, thereby swinging the'ever B about the axis of the bolt 21. During the initial movement of the lever Bin "a contra-clockwise direction as 'seen in"ll`ig`nre` 1,V the handle end of, the lever 17 will alsojbe moved in a contra-clockwise direction, thereby swinging the same on its pivot, bringing the tooth thereof into engagement with the ratchet wheel, the necessary relative movement of the lever V17 andthe lever B being permitted due to the flaring construction of the sleeve 35 hereinbe'fore referred to. Upon further movement of the lever B in a contra-clockwise direction due to engagement of the tooth on the leverl 17 with the ratchet Wheel, the latter will be rotated in the proper direction totighten the brakes in a well known manner. It will be evident tha-tdiil'- ing the movement of the lever B in Ya 'Teverse direction, the tooth. of the Vlever 17 will idle over the teeth of the ratchet wheel.

From the preceding description taken in connection with the drawing, it will be evident that I have provided an exceedingly simple means for operating the brake mechanism and lever arm of the auxiliary lever provides means which is readily accessible for oscillating the lever of the brake mechanism and which is entirely free from interferenceby any or' the fixtures of the car. It will also be evident that I obtain increased leverage due to the operating arm of the auxiliary lever being longer than the arm which is connected to the ratchet lever of the brake mehanism proper.

I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferred manner of carrying out my invention, but the Ysame'is merely illustrative and YI contemplate all changes and modifications which come within the scope of the claims appended here-to.

I claim:

1. In an operating device adaped for attachment to the depending ratov t lever of a hand brake mechanism having a housing located on the inner side of the end Wall Yof a car and a supportingbolt about the axis ot' which the depending lever is oscillatable, the combination with a hub; ot a pair of arms laterally projecting Vfrom said hub,one oi' said arms serving asanoperating lever and the other of said arms having means for attaching the same to theratchet lever; and a journal element for Saidhub, whereby., said operating arm may be VYoscil-lr-ned to effect operation of the ratchet lever.

2. As an article 'of manufacture, -a lever including a hub member having ascii-mal opening therein. and arms opposite y projecting Vfrom said hub, said arms Vbeing disposed at an angle to each other and one ot' said arms having a socket at the free'end thereof adapted to receivethe hand grip end ofY a ratchet brake lever.

3. In an auxiliary perating mechanism for hand brakes ofV the ratchet type adapted for attachment to the 'end vvall of a -carhaving a steam *coil Vadiacent Ysaid end that the upwardly prol'ectingV i l'U wherein the ratchet mechanism is o erated by a depending lever oscillatable a ut a horizontal axis and having the handle thereof disposed closely adjacent said coil, the combination with a bearing element mounted coaxial with said axis; of a lever mechanism journaled on said bearing member for rotation about said axis, said lever having a pair of radially projecting oppositely disposed arms, one of which is detachably connected to the ratchet lever of the brakes and the other of which extends upwardl from the axis of rotation of said lever mec anism Iand serves as an operating member.

4. In a hand brake mechanism including a housing having a ratchet lever operated chain winding mechanism therein; a bolt extending axially of said housing and a lever for operating said ratchet mechanism, the combination with an auxiliary lever including a hub portion adapted to abut the inner end of the housing; of a pair of oppositely extending arms on said hub, one of said arms forming an operating handle member and the other having a socket at its free end adapted to receive the free end of the ratchet operating lever; and a bearing member on which said hub is journaled, said bearing member being mounted on said bolt and having a flange engaging the outer end of the hub to retain the auxiliary lever in operative position.

5. As an article of manufacture, an auxiliary lever for hand brakes including a hub portion having a bearin openin therein, and a pair of arms radia ly exten ing from said hub, one of said arms being shorter than the other and having the free end thereof provided With a socket adapted to loosely receive the end of the brake operating lever, said socket end of said short arm being offset with reference to said other arm.

6. In an auxiliary operating mechanism for hand brakes of the ratchet type adapted for attachment to the end Wall of a car having a steam coil adjacent said end wall wherein the ratchet mechanism is operated by a depending lever rotatable about a main axis and pivotally mounted eccentric to said axis, said lever also having the handle thereof disposed closely adjacent said coil, the combination With a bearing element mounted coaxial with said axis; of an elbow lever journaled on said bearing member for rotation about said axis, one end of said elbow lever serving as an operating handle and the other end being provided With a flaring socket adapted to receive the free end oi' the ratchet lever, whereby upon 0scillation of said elbow lever, said ratchet lever is brought into operative position and oscillated about said axis to operate said brakes.

7. In a hand brake, the combination with a rotatable member for effecting application of the brake proper and a main, pivotally mounted operating lever for eecting step by step rotation of said member, said main lever projecting in one direction from its pivotal axis; of a secondary operating lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends to thereby provide two diametrically disposed arms, one on each side of its pivotal axis, one of said arms having operative engagement with said main operatlng lever for effecting oscillation of the latter when the supplemental lever is oscillated whereby the brake may be actuated by the other arm of said supplemental lever with the operator positioned at the opposite side of the brake to that which the operator would normally assume in operating the main lever.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 17th day of October, 1923.

ALBERT P. WITHALL.

Witnesses:

FRANCES SAVAGE, 'HARRIE'ITE M. BEAMER. 

